. ", followed immediately by the song. Security was thin. [2] His father, Worden McDonald, from Oklahoma, was of Scottish Presbyterian heritage (the son of a minister) and worked for a telephone company. Don's son went to school with Seven, Don asked his son if she would be cool with him naming a character Seven, Seven said no, so it was either Six or Eight. She sang backup, Live from Willie Nelson 90 tribute: Keith Richards joins Willie at the Bowl, At Willie Nelson 90, country, rock and rap stars pay tribute, but Willie and Trigger steal the show. and it's only 5 days away. He went on to produce a musical rendition of the World War I poems of Robert Service, a collection of country and western standards, "Vietnam Experience" in 1985, "Superstitious Blues" in 1991 with Jerry Garcia, and an album of songs about nursing in 2002. It comes out of a tradition of G.I. They appeared on Day 3 of the festival. Ive been doing work with veterans now for 15 years, and I probably know more about Vietnam veterans than any other person in the entertainment industry.. When McDonald called out for an "F" and then a "U," instead of an "F" and then an "I," the Woodstock audience went wild. The Guthrie album won him critical acclaim and a spot the following year at the Hollywood Bowl celebration in honor of Guthrie featuring Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie and many who had worked with him while he was alive. Country Joe McDonald is an American singer/songwriter and a Navy veteran. Subscribe Log In Manage. He travels the world and continues to sell records. But having enlisted in the Navy at 17 and been stationed as an air traffic controller at the Atsugi, Japan, air facility until his honorable discharge in 1962, he refers to himself as a Vietnam era veteran.. It was time for the second act on the second day of a 1969 music festival in upstate New York, but the band, Santana, was having trouble getting it together. Their best-known song is his "The "Fish" Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" (1965), a black comedy novelty song about the Vietnam War, whose familiar chorus ("One, two, three, what are we fighting for? A scheduled, prepaid appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show was canceled, and they were banned for life (although they got to keep the money). Memories06. McDonald, 44, never served in Vietnam. The band's popularity was further enhanced by the release in the summer of that year of a second EP -- called the "white EP" -- which contained three songs: "Bass Strings," "Section 43" and "(Thing Called) Love." In this Aug. 17, 1969 photo, workers carry medical supplies that arrived by helicopter on the grounds of the Woodstock Music and Art Festival in Bethel, N.Y. (AP). As a high school dropout, Mr. Earle played a coffeehouse near Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. McDonald straddles the two polar events of the 60s -- Woodstock and the Vietnam War. The label was intended as a vehicle to release records by West Coast artists; since there was renewed interest in Europe at the time. Country Joe McDonald - IMDb Joe's parents, Florence and Worden, had moved there after the War, World War II that is, when they began to have difficulties of a political kind. Day 2 at Woodstock meant the rock acts were up, and the 11th act to appear on Saturday (actually Sunday a.m.) was already a legend. It included the first recording of the song that would go on to define Mr. McDonalds career. FlourishAnyway from USA on April 06, 2019: Wow, someone named after Stalin. Last edited on 28 February 2023, at 01:20, The "Fish" Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag, Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies, The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, "Country Joe McDonald Revives Anti-War Anthem", "Country Joe McDonald, The Country Joe Band", "Show 42 The Acid Test: Psychedelics and a sub-culture emerge in San Francisco. There are conflicting reports about when McDonald performed at Woodstock. "We went for the music and found something so much more, and so much more important camaraderie," says Karen Breda, who was 17 when she went to Woodstock. Fish which with a new keyboard player and rhythm section was produced by Tom Wilson. This series highlights the artists who performed at Woodstock August 1518, 1969. After his enlistment, he attended Los Angeles City College for a year. Country Joe McDonald live at Woodstock Roger Krook 874 subscribers Subscribe 4.8K Save 794K views 13 years ago Notice Age-restricted video (based on Community Guidelines) It's cable reimagined No. Political and ecological issues were set to musical accompaniment by Country Joe McDonald, who co-founded and led the psychedelic folk-rock band Country Joe & the Fish, the leading left-wing band of the '60s. Despite the real/honest prison poem and the silly, outdated record fan routines, his best in about five years."[12]. I met a soldier who was in the Hanoi Hilton for five years who said the Viet Cong would sometimes let them listen to music, he said. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic. The second broke new ground in its use of horns and strings as "sweetening," a common device in standard pop, but until this record, not used at all in new "progressive" rock. In the counterculture spirit, he started a magazine, Rag Baby, one of which was put out as an oral issue: A hundred copies of a seven-inch EP made and sold one by one. 4.On His Own Country Joe performing at the 1979 Woodstock reunion. One of his solo albums, the 1973 Vanguard LP Paris Sessions, was reviewed by Robert Christgau in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), in which he said: "Amazing. After being discharged, Mr. McDonald tried college for a few semesters before dropping out and landing in Berkeley. I was only a young teen back then but I imagine some of the performers were amazing and made history. In addition to McDonald, scheduled musical performers include Kris Kristofferson, Brian Wilson, Herbie Hancock and Charlie Daniels. Then something changed, Killer Mike goes off: Right now, in this country, your freedom of speech is at risk, Rihanna has Smurfs on the brain for her next movie: Hope this gives me cool points, Sexual assault began at 13, Runaways songwriter says; her suit names ex-KROQ DJ, band manager, Smokey Robinson on love, Motown and sex at 83: I feel as good as I felt when I was 40, Fugees rapper Pras found guilty of political conspiracy. "Patriots: the Vietnam War Remembered from All Sides", Christian G. Appy, p. 196. McDonald makes it clear, though, that the veterans issue is not just one of a long list of causes for him, and that it is vitally linked to his first cause: peace. Things changed in the summer of 1968 at the Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park, when the bands drummer, Gary Hirsh, suggested altering the cheer, replacing fish with a four-letter expletive. [14] McDonald has noted that his girlfriend at the time, Janis Joplin, showed much anger for breaking up with her to be with Menken but asked him to write a song about her; the result was "Janis". Navy veteran Country Joe McDonald, lower right, and his band Country Joe and The Fish. Free shipping for many products! Thirty years after his appearance at Woodstock, Country Joe McDonald has settled down as a family man. Joe left the troupe in late 1971 feeling that Fonda had missed the point; she did not seem to understand the problems the GIs and the returning Vietnam veterans were going through, and perhaps never would. The second act on Day 3 was Country Joe and the Fish. For those who watched the war unfold on the evening news, the music of Vietnam blurred with the sounds rising from the streets of America during a time of momentous challenge and change. Since the group's breakup in 1971, McDonald has continued to musically espouse his political views through his original folk-like songs. This was unusual in an era of short three-minute singles. Kaili Bisson (author) from Canada on April 07, 2019: Hippie stuff for sure! There are conflicting reports about when McDonald performed at Woodstock. Two years later, the Veterans of Foreign Wars' magazine marked Woodstock's 40th anniversary with a cover story spotlighting some 109 service members who died in Vietnam during the festival and "are never lauded by the illustrious spokesmen for the 'Sixties Generation.'". twice, with the audience responding, and then, the third time, "What's that spell? His "Tribute to Florence Nightingale" website has become a major resource for grade-schoolers. Country Joe McDonald - NNDB There was no one baby boomer generation. It's one of those indelible images from the Vietnam War era -- 1969, Woodstock, Country Joe McDonald up on the stage, belting out the era's anti-war anthem to more than half a million gyrating . Country Joe McDonald, WWII Plaque Some of the artists also appeared at Woodstock: Neil Young, Graham Nash, John Sebastian, Richie Havens and Sha Na Na. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Country Joe McDonald The Early Years Rare 1978 Picc-A-Dilly Records Vinyl LP at the best online prices at eBay! Country Joe McDonald - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Every time he heard Fixin-to-Die, it boosted his morale. But having enlisted in the Navy at 17 and been stationed as an air traffic controller at the Atsugi, Japan, air facility until his honorable discharge in. In 2019, Mc Donald was scheduled to play on Woodstock's 50th Anniversary festival, which was cancelled after negotiations between partners failed. For the men and women like me who served in Southeast Asia, music was what inexorably linked us to my generation. We sang along to the Beatles, Nancy Sinatra, Marty Robbins and the Temptations before we went to war, and we listened to them after we came back home. That got their attention. If you werent there, its possible to imagine this as so much postproduction editing, imposing a relationship between the sounds and the experience of the war. Woweven today, that gives me chills. "Some people alluded to peace and stuff, but I was talking about Vietnam," McDonald said in a phone interview. I was kind of their mascot. Header image: LBJ Library photo, C2491-14A. McDonald's Woodstock performance was a momentous occasion for both him and the festival-goers. However, she stressed that the Welcome Home event will not be a look back at tragedy, but rather a positive step forward. The lineup includes 1969 performers Santana and John Fogerty, but the arts center has made clear it isn't hosting a freewheeling festival: Spectators will need tickets and checkpoint travel passes to get to the site. Country Joe McDonald cheer and his quintessential anti-war sing-along, Feel-Like-Im-Fixin-to-Die Rag were intended merely to fill time left by a tardy performer. Nonetheless, since that time McDonald has been something of a man for all causes, performing in the name of various social issues. That Barry McGuires hit song Eve of Destruction, which railed against injustice and nuclear war in 1965, was quickly countered by Sgt. But Woodstock became an aspirational vision of what countercultural youth thought they could achieve in the United States., In this Aug. 16, 1969 photo, a young woman naps on top of her car while trying to reach the Woodstock Music and Art Festival in Bethel, N.Y. (AP). He tours regularly as a solo performer in the US and abroad. Opinion | Country Joe's Obscene Truths - The New York Times [Part 2]", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Country_Joe_McDonald&oldid=1142008307, This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 01:20. Kaili Bisson (author) from Canada on April 08, 2019: Absolutely, some of the performances are legendary. McDonald's music spans a broad range of style and content. Its going to be one big celebration. (hed eventually pay a $500 fine). As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. . People my age knew we were draft bait, and I already had the sense we were losing in Vietnam, unheard-of in America up to that point. Some sources state that he performed after Richie Havens on Friday, while others, including photos and recordings, seem to confirm that . But hey -- 2023 is going to be fabulous . PHOTO AND ART CREDITS Rag Baby Online Magazine: June 12, 1999 Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Country Joe McDonald - Best of Country Joe McDonald The Vanguard Yea - J7427A at the best online prices at eBay! Its been impossible for the mainstream to treat it in a noncontroversial way, even now, which is odd when you think of rap and grunge, but the cheer and the song married together made it art., By the time Mr. McDonald got to Woodstock, the cheer was well known among Manhattan hippie circles through the Central Park performance, bootleg recordings and underground radio, and thousands of his fans in New York made the trek to the festival. To many who went or wished they did, the pivotal festival of "peace and music" 50 years ago remains an inspiring moment of counterculture community and youthful freethinking. Country Joe McDonald Live at Celebration Of Life Festival on 1971-06-26. by Country Joe McDonald. The Woodstock audience did include at least one Vietnam veteran, snapped in a well-known photo. This series highlights the artists who performed at Woodstock August 15-18, 1969. Born a red-diaper baby he was named after Joseph Stalin he grew up in a Communist household in Southern California. McDonald was born in Washington, D.C. in 1942 to parents who were once members of the Communist party. They were the same songs our friends were listening to back home, but the music took on different, and often deeper, meanings in Vietnam. I was proud to be a veteran, the connection I had with the other soldiers, but I also understood the military dysfunction of capitalism combined with a large bureaucracy.. A folk rock flavored album, it featured songs from the Chile film and "Memories," a long introspective song about growing up in the 60s. I was sued by my McDonald's coworkers after winning $105m . He has become a well-respected scholar on the subject of her life and recently traveled to Turkey to further research her activities there during and after the Crimean War, as well as visiting sites relevant to her life in England. Radio and the way music was performed was changing and the band was helping to change it. Ever wonder who played at Woodstock? Ever wonder who played at Woodstock? After 30 albums and more than four decades in the public eye as a folksinger, Country Joe McDonald qualifies as one of the best known names from the 60s rock era still performing. Joe spent most of 1974 living in Europe, mostly in Paris where he had friends he had met in Berkeley. "It was embarking onto 'what do we have already here where we can have people gather?'" [19], McDonald has four other children, Devin (b. Its his legacy, one that both provided him with financial stability and quashed his chances at Top 40 stardom. He has performed at various rallies and benefit concerts for environmentalism, anti-war activism, and workers' rights. Bruce Lint (L) of Meriden, Connecticut and another Marine (unidentified) provide a little musical entertainment for fellow leathernecks at a fortress in northwestern south Vietnam. Many Americans saw Woodstock as a spectacle of spaced-out, skinny-dipping, promiscuous hippies cavorting in squalor with "little more sanity than the impulses that drive the lemmings to march to their deaths in the sea," as a New York Times editorial put it (while allowing that "the freakish-looking intruders behaved astonishingly well"). Mr. McDonald continued recording, putting out more than 30 albums, including this years 50, marking his five decades in the music business. It blames leaders and parents, not soldiers. Country Joe McDonald was born on January 1, 1942 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. The "Fish Cheer" evolved into the "Fuck Cheer" after the Berkeley Free Speech Movement. He has explained that he was inspired to write a folk song about how soldiers have no choice but to follow orders, but with the irreverence of rock 'n' roll. He is an actor and composer, known for Taking Woodstock (2009), Woodstock (1970) and Hamburger Hill (1987). Ever wonder who played at Woodstock? Country Joe McDonald - Full ConcertRecorded Live: 10/27/1973 - Winterland (San Francisco, CA)More Country Joe McDonald at Music Vault: http://www.musicvault..